Police make arrest

Police make arrest

A 43–year-old man has been arrested after an investigation into a hydroponic cannabis crop worth an estimated $1.5million discovered near Bega.

Detective Sergeant Justin Marks from the Far South Coast Local Area Command said police from Bega joined the NSW Crime Commission and officers from the Wetherill Park Regional Enforcement Squad in making the arrest last week.

Together they executed two search warrants on premises in Condell Park (a suburb of Bankstown, Sydney) and made the arrest.

The man has been charged with cultivating enhanced prohibited drugs, supplying a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and possession of prohibited drugs.

He was granted conditional bail and is scheduled to appear in Bega Local Court on February 25.

Detective Sergeant Marks said the NSW Crime Commission has frozen all of the man’s assets and is making further inquiries in relation to the supply of the prohibited drugs.

On January 9, police from the Far South Coast Target Action Group, Bega Detectives and Bega general duties officers executed a search warrant at a semirural property on Black Range Rd outside Bega.

Police found the house and sheds had been converted into a sophisticated hydroponic cannabis setup.

In excess of 200 cannabis plants at different stages of growth were seized, recorded, analysed and then destroyed.

A number of chemicals and stabilisers used to promote the growth of the cannabis were also seized.

Police allege the total value of the cannabis alone had a street value of $1.5million.